President's Perspective

President's Perspective

APGO Council – The Public role. The Members voice. Your voice?

Scott McLean, P.Geo. - APGO President

As I plan for the second APGO council meeting of my presidency, set for September 16, 2005 in Ottawa, I thought I might share with you a little about how the APGO council is set up, how it operates and how you, as a member, can get involved. Typically, Council meets five times a year, usually in Toronto but we do endeavour to meet at least once a year outside the “GTA” to allow better access for members attending the meetings - all members are welcome to attend Council upon notice to the APGO office. Over the past few years we have met outside of Toronto in Sudbury and Waterloo.

Council governs the affairs and business of the Association. During the Council meeting guiding policy is created and decisions are made regarding direction and strategy. Council’s most important duty is to ensure that the public mandate, as set out in the Professional Geoscientist Act, 2000, is met and it is for this reason that Council is made up of representatives both of the members and the public at large.

APGO Council is comprised of 20 people, of whom 12 are elected from among the P.Geo. membership, three are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (which includes two licensed P.Geo. members and one non-member who represent the public), the geoscience departments of Ontario universities appoint one council member and four are non-member appointees. Public members provide a perspective at council from outside of our profession and represent those whom the Professional Geoscientists Act, 2000 is designed to protect. Existing public members on Council include: Ken Petersen C.M.C., a management consultant from Timmins; James Stephenson P.Eng. Q.C., a lawyer and mining engineer from Toronto, and June Hannah a marketing specialist from Toronto.

As was announced in the recent press release, click here to view APGO Council now has two new public member appointees. Matt Hollands, R.P.F., is a Register Professional Forester and manages his own forestry consulting business in Timmins. Chris Roney P.Eng. is a Professional Engineer who is a structural engineering consultant in Kingston. Having met both these individuals, I can assure you they will be excellent additions to Council and will bring important new viewpoints to the table.

Also announced was the Council of University Departments of Geoscience of Ontario (CUDGO) appointment to APGO Council. Click here to view. This is a very important council position as it creates a link between APGO and the universities, and will help increase awareness of our profession among students and ensure geoscience programs are meeting the education requirements for licensing of its graduates. While this seat has remained empty since 2003, the APGO is pleased Ontario’s university geoscience department heads have approved the appointment of Dr. Bob Hodder, P.Geo. as the CUDGO rep on Council on an interim basis. Bob will serve a one-year term. His principally duties will be to address some of the challenges APGO has experienced in filling the CUDGO seat on Council; he will also fulfil other duties on the Registration Committee.

Of the elected P.Geo.’s, five members represent regions of Ontario: South-western, South-eastern, Central, North-western and North-eastern. Regional Councillors bring an important local perspective to the table and greatly enhance our understanding of the impact of our decisions. There are an additional four Councillors at Large elected from anywhere in Ontario. The balance of Council is made up of the President, Past President and Vice President.

APGO Council is a public body. Minutes of Council meetings are available as public record and can be viewed at any time at the APGO office. The APGO annual report provides a summary of the Association’s activities and accomplishments each year.

As members, I encourage you to get involved and become aware of the activities of Council. Your involvement will help mould the Association into a body that not only carries out its obligations under the Professional Geoscientist Act, 2000, but also meets the needs and expectations of its members. Get to know your Councillors; communicate with your Councillors; consider running, yourself, for office on Council! Last year all Council positions up for election were simply filled by acclamation due to a lack of nominations.

This year Council elections will be held for three positions: Regional Councillor South-western Ontario and two Councillors at Large. (The position of Vice-President is also up for election each year but nominees must have previously served on Council). Please consider getting involved in building a strong professional association for Geoscience in Ontario. Speak among your fellow members, gauge their support and consider responding to the Call for Nominations for Election to APGO Council that will be coming out later in the year.